Mercedes-Benz is the most successful brand in the contest for the best truck

Hubertus Troska, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks: “We are proud that the “Truck Of The Year” jury has honoured our efforts with this important distinction.”

Stuttgart/Kortrijk – On the occasion of the international specialist trade fair “Trailer 2011” in Kortrijk, Belgium, an international expert jury awarded the new Mercedes-Benz Actros the title of “Truck Of The Year 2012”. The industry journalists, coming from 24 European countries and specialised in commercial vehicles, voted the flagship from the Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle fleet the best truck of the year for the fourth time. This brilliant career began back in 1997 with the first Actros, whose successors were also able to secure victory in the competition again in 2004 and 2009.

Having won a total of eight titles, Mercedes-Benz is now the most successful brand in the competition for this prize that rewards technological advancement, the fundamental criterium in the selection process carried out by the Truck Of The Year Jury. Last year at the IAA International Motor Show in Hannover, the Mercedes-Benz Atego was honoured with the title of “Truck Of The Year 2011”.

Gianenrico Griffini, the president of the jury, commented the victory of the Actros: “With their new flagship, Mercedes-Benz have combined evolutionary elements with revolutionary new developments that raise the bar for efficiency, safety and comfort in a heavy-duty vehicle.”

According to the rules of the jury, the title is awarded yearly to the truck that has made the greatest contribution towards innovations for road transportation in the fields of economy, emissions, safety, driveability and comfort. Polling a total of 161 points, the Mercedes-Benz Actros won the contest, far ahead of the runner-up, with 67 points, while the third-placed contestant followed with 50 points. With this exceptionally high score the experts aknowledged the pioneering technology featured by the Actros.

Hubertus Troska, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, received the award at the Mercedes-Benz Symposium in Kortijk, Belgium. He said: “We are proud that the Truck Of The Year Jury has confirmed our efforts with this honour. Because over 10 years of dedicated effort and a lot of passion, heart and soul on the part of the entire team went into the making of the new Actros. The Actros is set to be our most important truck for the coming years, and this was a great motivation for us at Mercedes-Benz to create a milestone in this sector.”

Strong points of the Actros: economy, driving dynamics and comfort

The new Actros is uncompromisingly economically efficient, comfortable, safe and environmentally-compatible. Its new design enhances the attractiveness of this new Mercedes-Benz flagship. With over 700,000 units sold since its launch in 1996, the Actros is the most successful heavy-duty truck in the world.

The new Actros was redeveloped from scratch. This made it possible to further improve on the successful truck model. On the one hand the vehicle benefits operators’ bottom line by cutting fuel consumption and reduces the strain on drivers by boosting handling and ride comfort; on the other hand it already today meets the stringent Euro VI emissions limits. Compared to the previous well-proven Actros, the new model consumes 6 to 7 percent less in its Euro V version, and 3 to 4 percent less in the Euro VI variant.

The generously-dimensioned cab of the new Mercedes-Benz Actros sets standards in terms of spaciousness and ergonomics, quality of materials and equipment. The driver’s cab is workplace, lounge area, living room and sleeping area all rolled into one. The ergonomically-designed living-space corner and the entirely new bed concept fascinate drivers, as does the overall cab volume, which has been increased even further over previous models.

The new Actros is the result of over 22 million road test kilometres and investments in development and production technology amounting to more than two billion euros. A product launch of this magnitude takes place only about once every fifteen years in the commercial vehicle sector.

With this result Daimler fulfils its commitment to combine, in the new Actros, compliance with further improved environmental compatibility and enhanced economic performance.